With the last teaser poster for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the Warner Bros. marketing team quite consciously called back to Peter Jackson‘s earlier Lord of the Rings trilogy. The portrait of a sword-wielding Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) was of a piece with the posters for Fellowship of the Rings and Return of the King, which showed Frodo and Aragorn, respectively, in similar poses.

But as striking as it was, it left out a many of the key players in the movie — namely, the merry band of dwarves. The new poster remedies that by cramming all thirteen dwarves onto the page at once, along with a plate of cupcakes for them to snack on. Check it out after the jump.

Ten years ago this week The Fellowship of the Ring was released. Peter Jackson‘s first Tolkien adaption silenced a great many naysayers who said J.R.R. Tolkien‘s novels could never be properly translated to film. It also fostered a mainstream interest in fantasy movies that continues a decade later.

The development of a film based on Tolkien’s original Middle-Earth novel, The Hobbit, was the subject of speculation as soon as Jackson started work on The Lord of the Rings. Actually making the movie was a terrifically complicated process that involved rights deals, the financial solvency of MGM, a long period of development under original director Guillermo del Toro, and the eventual return of Peter Jackson to the director’s chair.

Now the first teaser trailer — a long teaser, at that — has been released for the first of two films based on the novel. Get the first look at footage from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, after the break. Read More »

At this point what more is there to say about yet another dwarf reveal from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey? (Other than, perhaps, “uh, where’s Thorin?”) Here is the latest image dispatch from Peter Jackson‘s version of Middle-Earth, featuring Ken Stott as Balin (on the left) and Graham McTavish as Dwalin.

These two guys are peers, more or less, for Thorin, the dwarf who assembles the company that travels from the Shire to the Misty Mountain. We’ll likely see Thorin next week, and hopefully a couple of the new human character, too. In the meantime, see the full new image below. Read More »

We can probably expect to see a good many materials for The Hobbit before it opens a year and a half from now. We’ve seen a few images of Bilbo (Martin Freeman) and Gandalf (Ian McKellen) with a few of the company of dwarves in the background of one image. Now here’s a promo photo of the three brother dwarves Nori (Jed Brophy), Ori (Adam Brown) and Dori (Mark Hadlow) as they’ll look in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Read a few details from the studio and see a larger image after the break. Read More »

Warner Bros/New Line Cinema and MGM have announced the start of production on The Hobbit in New Zealand, which includes a full update on the signed cast (many of which have been previously announced or rumored, but a couple new additions):

Martin Freeman takes the title role as Bilbo Baggins and Ian McKellen returns in the role of Gandalf the Grey. The Dwarves are played by Richard Armitage (Thorin Oakenshield), Ken Stott (Balin), Graham McTavish (Dwalin), William Kircher (Bifur) James Nesbitt (Bofur), Stephen Hunter (Bombur), Rob Kazinsky (Fili), Aidan Turner (Kili), Peter Hambleton (Gloin), John Callen (Oin), Jed Brophy (Nori), Mark Hadlow (Dori) and Adam Brown (Ori). Reprising their roles from “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy are Cate Blanchett as Galadriel, Andy Serkis as Gollum and Elijah Wood as Frodo. Jeffrey Thomas and Mike Mizrahi also join the cast as Dwarf Kings Thror and Thrain, respectively. Further casting announcements are expected.

Director Peter Jackson has also launched a facebook page which will be updated throughout the production. The first updates includes two production photos featuring Jackson in a couple of the completed sets. Hit the jump to see everything.Read More »

Warner Bros has just officially confirmed that James Nesbitt (Bloody Sunday, Millions, Waking Ned Devine) and newcomer Adam Brown have joined the cast of Peter Jackson‘s big screen adaptation of The Hobbit. Nesbitt will play Bofur, “a disarmingly forthright, funny and occasionally brave Dwarf.” Brown will play Ori, “another of the Dwarf Company which sets out to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from the infamous dragon, Smaug.” Hit the jump to read the full press release, which includes comments from Peter Jackson.Read More »